Bagan’s Myinkaba Village preserves nine traditional arts and crafts

In Bagan, home to many of Myanmar’s cultural heritage, Myinkaba Village continues to preserve nine out of ten of the traditional arts and crafts (ten floral arts).

The village operates Pabe (blacksmithing/ironwork), Pabu (sculpturing/wood carving), Patain (goldsmithing/silversmithing), Pachi (painting), Payun (lacquerware crafting/gilding), Papoot (stone carving/stone masonry), Patawt (ornamental turning/lathe work), Pantamawt (stone sculpturing) and Payan (bricklaying/masonry) except Patin. During the reign of King Kyansittha, the ten traditional arts and crafts were strongly supported and encouraged. Today, nine traditional arts and crafts have continued to survive in Myinkaba Village (also known as Anuradha).

As the rainy season begins and travellers’ arrivals to Bagan decline, villages around the Bagan area rely more on home-based handicraft businesses than tourism for their income; meanwhile, painting and colouring wooden sculptures becomes the most common seasonal work during this period.

“If we talk about traditional handicrafts in Bagan, Myinkaba Village is probably the most prominent place. During this season, many people work on colouring carved wooden sculptures. This belongs to the sculpture and painting crafts included in the ten traditional arts. In NyaungU, artisans from Mandalay and local craftsmen carve scenes from the life of Buddha and Jataka tales, then send them to Myinkaba village for colouring. Since skilled painters live here, the village receives sculpture works every year because the colouring process is extremely important for products sold both domestically and internationally.

Since this village has many handicraft artisans, it is a source of pride for the Bagan region as these nine traditional crafts can still be found here without losing their original style,” said U Zeya Than, local artisan from Myinkaba village.

Most of the sculptures are carved from teak wood and depict scenes such as the Ten Jataka Tales, the life of Buddha, Buddha’s descent from heaven to the human world, King Sivi, the five ascetics, Ajatasattu, Buddha’s renunciation, the five hundred carts episode, and other traditional themes.

These sculptures range in size from one foot to twenty feet in length and are sold for prices ranging from K1.5 million to over K10 million. They are highly valued and displayed in hotels, guesthouses, homes, and religious buildings as works of Myanmar cultural art. Artists who specialize in colouring the sculptures can earn between K500,000 and K5 million per project.

Visitor arrivals to the Bagan Ancient Cultural Heritage Zone usually decline from late April to July, and sculpture business owners from NyaungU invest capital into carving and painting works, then sell them again to domestic and international tourists during the open season. — Thitsa (MNA)/KTZH